Waffle: A fabric characterized by a honeycomb texture or small squares similar to the surface of a waffle. May be woven or knit.

Warm: a woolly or fibrous hand generally associated with fabrics that keep the body warm.

Warp knit: a fabric produced by interlocking loops in a lengthwise direction . Warp knits tend to be flatter, smoother, more run resistant, and more stable than weft knits . Examples are tricot, raschel and milanese. 

Warp print: The warp yarns are printed with a design before weaving. After weaving the design then has a hazy shadowy effect. 

Washed: refers to fabrics that have been laundered before shipping. This may be done to reduce shrinkage, soften the hand, wash down the color or to give the fabric a used, laundered look.

Water repellent: fabrics that have been treated to resist wetting and shed water by causing the water to bead on the surface. It does not close the pores of the fabric as waterproof treatments do, so the fabrics are comfortable to wear. It will offer protection in a light shower but not heavy rain. Water repellency may be added by treating the fabric with fluorocarbon chemicals , wax, silicone or resins . Sometimes called water resistant. 

Watercolor: refers to designs that are characterized by soft gradations and soft shadings of color suggestive of semi-opaque watercolor paintings.

Waterproof: refers to fabrics that have been coated, laminated, or otherwise treated to prevent the penetration of water.

Wax coated: refers to fabric that has been coated with wax or paraffin to alter the hand or appearance or to make the fabric water repellent.

Weft knit: the most common type of knit formed by interlocking loops in the widthwise direction . Weft knit tend to have more stretch than warp knits. Examples are interlock, jerseys, double knits, rib knits. 

Wet-laid: formation of a non-woven fabric by suspending fibers in water to disperse them evenly . The suspension is poured onto a moving screen allowing the water to pass through and leaving a fiber web, which is then dried to form the fabric.

Whipcord: A strong, firm fabric with a prominent, steep, indented twill line. Used for trousers, drapery, upholstery.

Wicking: refers to the ability of a fabric to move moisture (sweat) away from the skin to the outer layer of fabric where it can evaporate more easily  thus helping to keep the skin dry. Used in activewear and high performance fabrics.

Windowpane: a design that looks like a windowpane, with narrow bands of one color forming an over-check that encloses rectangles of another ground color. 

Woolen: refers to fabrics of carded wool yarns spun in the woolen spinning system . These are shorter coarser yarns than worsted yarns and the fabrics are heavier than worsteds.

Wool-like: refers to a non-wool fabric with a warm hand that feels like natural wool. 

Worsted: refers to fabric of combed yarns spun in the worsted spinning system. These tend to be longer finer yarns than those spun in the woolen system. The term worsted usually refers to wool but may refer to any other fibers as well. Worsted fabrics are lighter and smoother than woolens. Tropical, gabardine and serge are examples of worsted fabrics.

Wrinkle resistant: a fabric that has been treated to resist the formation of wrinkles.

Yarn dyed: fabrics which have had the yarns colored before the fabric is woven. Used to produce stripes plaids or tapestries. 

Yarn dyed and overdyed: a fabric which has been first yarn dyed, then piece dyed in a lighter shade that allows the yarn dye pattern to show through.

Yoryu: see Crepon/ Yoryu.